When we look at today’s educational ecosystem, a concern that is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore comes to the fore: are we preparing today’s students for a world that no longer exists?

The disconnect is evident—and it is not primarily technological, but rather human. In the day-to-day life of schools, there is a noticeable insistence on replicating pedagogical models that no longer align with reality and belong to a past that has long since faded away.

And that’s not because people lack good intentions. It’s because change takes work. And, often, it’s scary.

Perhaps the greatest challenge facing contemporary education is not learning to use new tools, but having the courage to reexamine our assumptions, recognize our limitations, and, above all, make room for new ways of learning and teaching to be put into practice.  

When a school faces difficult problems, it tends to look for quick fixes, a “trendy” methodology, a new platform, or a ready-made guide.

There is, however, one point that needs to be addressed honestly: much of what holds education back is not a lack of tools—it is a lack of dialogue.

There is a lack of dialogue among people, among departments, between the teaching staff and administration, between the school and families, and between what we intend to do and what actually happens in practice.

And this happens all the time. Schools buy technology, but they don’t get the basics right: Why? How? For what educational purpose? With what kind of teacher training? And what is the timeline for implementation? Then it turns into frustration. And frustration turns into resistance.

A simple and practical example: bullying doesn’t come out of nowhere. It stems from a culture in which others become targets. It involves a lack of belonging, low empathy, adult inaction, and an environment where humiliation comes to be seen as “normal.” Even so, we insist on addressing only the consequence: protocols, punishments, handbooks, and one-off lectures. It puts out the fire. But it doesn’t change the climate that fuels it.

It was based on this observation that we arrived at the theme for Bett Brasil 2026: “Individual, Collective, and Artificial Intelligences: All Within Us, Right Now!” It stems from a process of attentive listening, continuous observation of the educational landscape, and the understanding that we are at a unique moment in the history of education in which multiple intelligences are manifesting simultaneously: the uniqueness of each individual, the strength of the collective, and the power of digital and artificial technologies.

At the 31st edition of Bett Brasil, Latin America’s largest event for Innovation and Technology in Education, we will reflect on the many forms of intelligence and their applications in the educational context: InteliGENTE (individual), HumaNÓS (collective), InteligêncIA (artificial), and Dialogues of Intelligences (all within us).

Recognizing these intelligences individually already paves the way for transformation. But it is through the dialogue among them that the real possibilities for change emerge—to reinvent teaching practices, revitalize school administration, expand inclusion, and create innovative educational business models. And that is why the “now” is central to this topic.

“Now” is not just a catchphrase—it’s a warning. Because education is being challenged not only by technology itself, but by a much more complex phenomenon: the rapid advance of the digital age, which is occurring simultaneously with the rise in people’s emotional distress.

And this imbalance isn’t abstract: it’s reflected in the numbers and in everyday life. Data on burnout and mental health disorders in the workplace aren’t just cold statistics; they’re symptoms of a system that has lost its way. As of January 1, 2025, Brazil officially adopted the ICD-11, which classifies Burnout Syndrome (or occupational exhaustion syndrome) as an occupational disease—that is, one directly related to work.

An article in the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper in January of this year revealed that data from the Ministry of Social Security (MPS) show a 493% increase in sick leave claims due to work-related burnout and lack of leisure time, jumping from 823 cases in 2021 to 4,880 in 2024. In the first six months of 2025, the number of cases reached 3,494, representing 71.6% of the sick leave cases from the previous year.

In 2024, the INSS granted 472,300 mental health-related sick leave benefits—including those for depression, anxiety, and other syndromes—out of a total of 3.6 million sick leave cases.

In 2025, mental health disorders accounted for 271,076 sick leaves from January through June, out of a total of more than 2 million sick leaves, and already represent 1 in every 7 sick leaves, closing in on the number of sick leaves granted for bone and muscle problems, which top the list of conditions covered by the INSS.

Schools, as places for human development, are not immune. They reflect this reality—and sometimes amplify it. A July 2025 article on the Você S/A magazine website revealed that more than 150,000 teachers in Brazil’s public school system were placed on leave in 2023 for reasons related to mental health, according to a survey by the CNTE (National Confederation of Education Workers), based on data from the INSS.

This confronts us with an uncomfortable but necessary question: How can we prepare citizens for a complex world if we, as educators, are still trying to build our approach on the basics of social-emotional skills?

This is where the role of administrators and leaders becomes crucial. And it’s worth saying bluntly: leading a school today means dealing with complexity without hiding behind ready-made answers. There is a legitimate urgency to take action. However, acting without understanding the context usually leads the school to repeat the same old procedures while expecting a different result.

For those who experience school life on a day-to-day basis, there is no definitive guide. There is no course that teaches “the right way” to integrate human and artificial intelligence.

What is needed is an urgent effort to foster a culture of learning within the institution itself: to test, adjust, learn from mistakes, and build a collective body of knowledge.

And there’s one point I always make a point of repeating: today, it’s impossible to know everything. Saying “I don’t know” isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s a sign of clarity, one that makes room for learning.

The problem is when the school pretends to know, makes decisions on autopilot, and only realizes later that the cost of those decisions was high.

Learning together is no longer just an option—it has become an essential strategy. The truth is, no one can do this alone—and that’s okay. The challenge lies in building a school that learns with humility, clarity, and courage. From there, the questions change as well.

This movement requires self-awareness and the courage to answer essential questions: What kind of environment are we creating so that teachers and students can truly learn, without fear of making mistakes? How much time do we set aside for listening, reflection, and innovation? 

Ultimately, there is only one challenge: schools can no longer get by with modern rhetoric and outdated practices. It is time to align words with actions.

Individual, collective, and artificial intelligence all exist. But they only bring about transformation when they are able to communicate with one another—and that doesn’t happen naturally. That takes planning. That takes leadership. That takes culture.

Bett Brasil aims to be a space for coming together, listening, and collective creation. It is an invitation to genuine dialogue—without ready-made answers, but with a sincere willingness to learn together. Because all forms of intelligence lie within us. And the time to act with awareness, responsibility, and humanity is now!

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